TVA holding meeting to discuss new CEO’s authority

NORTH MISSISSIPPI — The Tennessee Valley Authority is expected to have a special meeting today to discuss delegating authority to the utility’s new chief executive until it fills several vacancies on its board.

The board is made up of nine members and five seats are pending congressional action, including one that’s up for reappointment. Congress is set to adjourn this month.

TVA spokesman Scott Brooks told The Associated Press that the new authority, if approved, would allow the agency to operate without the board “in certain critical areas,” such as handling rates and contracts.

Last month, TVA’s board chose former Progress Energy CEO Bill Johnson to lead the nation’s largest public utility, which provides electricity to nine million people in Tennessee, Kentucky, Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia, North Carolina and Virginia.